Preparing for Caterpillar Season: Greens and weeds

Some say weed or vegetable, I say host plant!

Some of the earliest spring butterflies are members of the butterfly family Pieridae and are commonly known as the Whites and Sulphurs. The Whites (Subfamily Pierinae), namely the Cabbage White, Great Southern White, Checkered White and Great Florida White can often be seen on roadsides and medians throughout Florida, especially in the early spring.

Part of what makes these species of Pieridae butterflies so abundant and successful is that their host plants are so numerous and ubiquitous. These species of butterflies host on a variety of plants including members of the mustard family and common roadside weeds.

Peppergrass (Lepidium virginicum) or Poor Man’s Pepper, a host plant for these delicate beauties, is something that you may already have growing in your yard. In fact, if you have a yard that is not perfectly manicured then you can pretty likely find some growing at home. Besides feeding butterflies, you can also add the young leaves to salads and the seed pods can be used as a substitute for black pepper. It may not be the most attractive of garden plants and it may be a brown skeleton by mid-summer, but in the Spring peppergrass has some great butterfly uses.

If you have a fenced yard that your neighbors won’t complain about, consider letting a small patch of peppergrass go wild by mowing around it. It is amazing how many butterflies are drawn to common weeds like peppergrass or Spanish Needles. Peppergrass is native to Florida and does well in dry conditions.

Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Cabbage, Turnip Greens, Brussel Sprouts, Broccoli and Kale are just some of the Brassica family of plants that may be consumed by various species of White butterflies. Species of Pieridae butterflies can be considered garden pests because they host on so many common home vegetables.

If you want to grow a vegetable garden but don’t want to use pesticides or kill caterpillars then try picking up a few of these greens not for food but for the butterflies. Plant them away from your vegetable garden and use them as sacrificial plants. When you find caterpillars in your vegetable garden, move them to the caterpillar patch so you can have your cabbage butterflies and eat your cabbage too.

Spider Flower (Cleome hasslerana), also known by its botanical name Cleome, is often sold as a flowering annual in garden shops. This plant has a lovely spider-like flower available in several colors and can reseed readily in some places. Cleome has short but sharp spines along the main stem and a musky scent when the foliage is bruised. This species tends to be hearty in the winter and spring and does not do well in Florida summers. Cleome is native to South America.

As a side note, the foliage of this plant along with scarlet hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus) and chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) can greatly resemble the foliage of marijuana. Until your plant blooms with white, pink or lavender spider-like blooms the shape of the foliage might cause some talk among your neighbors. I recommend that anyone with an active neighborhood association, neighborhood watch or just overly nosey neighbors might want to consider labeling this plant is a very obvious way. Keep the identifying plant stake that comes with the potted plant and stick it in the soil at the base of your plant. This might help to keep the neighbors from whispering behind their hands every time you have guests over for dinner.

Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra) is also known as Dwarf Cleome and the flowers and foliage resemble the former species. The plant will grow to a shorter height than Cleome and is considered an annual. Clammyweed is native to most of the continental United States but is listed as not-native to Florida.

Whites: These butterflies many not be the most showy species in Florida but they are incredibly lovely. Some, like the Florida White (Appias drusilla) have sky blue-tipped antennae that cannot be believed until they are seen.

These species represent a great opportunity to lure butterflies to the garden in early Spring without having to search for nearly un-locatable native plants.